International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

An Empirical Study into the Effects of Electronic Monitoring on Employees in Bangladesh

Open access
The global adoption of electronic monitoring with integrated AI for surveillance is increasing. More empirical studies on its application, especially in the context of developing nations, are needed. This study investigates the utilization of the application in Bangladesh and its impact on employees. It integrates the panopticon model and involves two stages of data collection, with the participation of 37 employees from three private universities in the first round and two case studies in the final round. The research outcomes revealed a few forms of usage applications. One of the case studies’ findings was presented in this paper. The research revealed and explained panopticon effects captured at the individual level of social actors framed in an electronic panopticon setting. Varying perspectives were found regarding how effective electronic monitoring enhances work motivation. The observed panopticon effects were contingent upon a foundation of trust between the social actors—employees and management—regarding the technology being used and the mutual benefits gained. The extended panopticon model with refined conceptualizations is adaptable to explain the complex dynamics of behavior in the workplace. The research has managerial and policy implications for organizations operating in a country with a different surveillance culture than a Western-oriented workplace.
Ahmed, S. I., Haque, M. R., Guha, S., Rifat, M. R., & Dell, N. (2017). Privacy, Security, and Surveillance in the Global South: A Study of Biometric Mobile SIM Registration in Bangladesh. In Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI '17). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 906–918. https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025961
Alam, M. J., Hassan, R., & Ogawa, K. (2023). Digitalization of higher education to achieve sustainability: Investigating students' attitudes toward digitalization in Bangladesh. International Journal of Educational Research Open, 5, 100273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2023.100273
Alder, G. S. (1998). Ethical issues in electronic performance monitoring: A consideration of deontological and teleological perspectives. Journal of Business Ethics, 17(7), 729–743. https://doi.org/10.1023/A 1005776615072
Al-Rjoub, H., Zabian, A., & Qawasmeh, S. (2008). Electronic Monitoring: The Employees Point of view. Journal of Social Sciences, 4(3), 189–195.
https://doi.org/10.3844/jssp.2008.189.195
American Management Association. (2019). The Latest on Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance. https //www.amanet.org/articles/the-latest-onworkplace-monitoring-and-surveillance/
Backhaus, N. (2019). Context sensitive technologies and electronic employee monitoring: a meta-analytic review. In: 2019 IEEE/SICE International Symposium on System Integration (SII), pp. 548–553 (2019). 10.1109/SII.2019.870035
Bain, P., & Taylor, P. (2002). Entrapped by the "Electronic Panopticon"? Worker Resistance in the Call Centre. New Technology, Work and Employment, 15 (1), 2–18. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-005X.00061
Ball, K. (2021). Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance in the Workplace: Literature Review and Policy Recommendations. European Commission. https://doi.org/10.2760/451453
Bassick, M., McNamara, T., & Sullivan, D. (2012). Employee surveillance: An ethical consideration. In D. McIntosh, R. Drabic, K. Huber, I. Vinogradov & M. Bassick (Eds.), The Ethical Imperative in the Context of Evolving Technologies (pp. 77-90): University of Colorado, Leeds School of Business.
BBC News. (2020). Barclays scraps' Big Brother' staff tracking system. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51570401
Botan, C. H., & McCreadie, M. H. (1990). Panopticon Workplace of the information society. International Communication Association Conference, Dublin, Ireland.
Botan, C. H. (1996). Communication work and electronic surveillance: A model for predicting panoptic effects. Communication Monographs, 63, 293–313.
Botan, C. H., & Vorvoreanu, M. (2005). What do employees think about electronic surveillance at work? In John Weckert (ed.). Electronic monitoring in the workplace: Controversies and Solutions (pp. 123-145). IGI Global.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Campbell, S., Greenwood, M., Prior, S., Shearer, T., Walkem, K., Young, S., & Walker, K. (2020). Purposive sampling: complex or simple? Research case examples. Journal of Research in Nursing, 25(8), 652–661. doi: 10.1177/1744987120927206
Chowdhury, A. (2021). Digital Bangladesh to Innovative Bangladesh: The road to 2021. Dhaka Tribune Online.
https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/special/2021/12/12/digital-bangladesh-to-innovative-bangladesh-the-road-to-2041
D’Urso, S. C. (2006). Who's watching us at work? Toward a structural–perceptual model of electronic monitoring and surveillance in organizations. Communication Theory, 16(3), 281-303. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.2006.00271.x
Dhali, M., Zulhuda, S., and Fadhilah, S. (2020). THE DIGITAL ECONOMY AND THE QUEST FOR PRIVACY PROTECTION IN BANGLADESH: A COMPARATIVE LEGAL ANALYSIS. IIUM Law Journal, 28(2), 567-596. DOI:10.31436/iiumlj.v28i2.451
Elmes, M., Strong, D., & Volkoff, O. (2005). Panoptic Empowerment and Reflective Conformity in Enterprise Systems-enabled Organisations. Information and Organization, 15, 1-37. 10.1016/j.infoandorg.2004.12.001.
Eurofound. (2021). The digital age: Implications of automation, digitisation and platforms for work and employment, Challenges and prospects, In the EU series, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
https://euagenda.eu/upload/publications/ef21007en.pdf
Flick, Uwe. (2004). Design and process in qualitative research. In E. Flick, E. von Kardorff & I. Steinke (Eds.), A Companion to Qualitative Research (pp. 146–152). Sage Publications.
Foucault, M. (1977). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison, trans. Alan Sheridan. New York Pantheon
George, J. F. (1996). Computer-based monitoring: Common perceptions and empirical results. MIS Quarterly, 20(4), 459-480. https://doi.org/10.2307/249564
Hickok, M., & Maslej, N. A. (2023). Policy primer and roadmap on AI worker surveillance and productivity scoring tools. AI Ethics, 3, 673–687. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-023-00275-8
Hosain, S. (2016). Teaching workload and performance: An empirical analysis on some selected private universities of Bangladesh. International Journal of English and Education, 5 (3), 1-11. DOI:10.2139/ssrn.2810640
Islam, M. T. (2022). Adequacy of Privacy Regime in Bangladesh: Key Challenges and Potential Policy Measures, IIUM Law Journal, 30 (1):33-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumlj.v30i1.655
Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative. (2012). Special Publication 800-30: Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments. http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-30r1
Joint Task Force Transformation Initiative. (2012). Special Publication 800-30: Guide for Conducting Risk Assessments. http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.SP.800-30r1
Kalischko T., & Riedl R. (2021). Electronic Performance Monitoring in the Digital Workplace: Conceptualization, Review of Effects and Moderators, and Future Research Opportunities. Front Psychol, 12, 633031. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633031
King, B. G., Felin, T., & Whetten, D. A. (2010). Finding the Organization in Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the Organization as a Social Actor. Organization Science, 21(1), 290–305. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27765965
Kitto, S. (2003). Translating an Electronic Panopticon Educational technology and the re-articulation of lecturer-student relations in online learning. Information, Communication & Society, 6(1), 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118032000068796
Kropp, B. (2019). The Future of Employee Monitoring. Gartner. https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/the-future-of-employee-monitoring
Lazar, W. S., & Yorke, C. (2023). Watched while working: Use of monitoring and AI in the workplace increases. REUTERS.
https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/watched-while-working-use-monitoring-ai-workplace-increases-2023-04-25/
Mahamudul, H., & Salahuddin, Y.S. (2019). Marketing of Security and Surveillance Products. Advances in Management, 12(3), 36-42.
Manokha, I. (2020). The Implications of Digital Employee Monitoring and People Analytics for Power Relations in the Workplace. Surveillance & Society, 18(4), 540–554. https://doi.org/ 10.24908/ss.v18i4.13776
Mannan, M. S., & Rohaya, M. N. (2023). A Case Study of Private University in Bangladesh Using Electronic Monitoring: Some Practical Implications. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 12(4):209–224. DOI: 10.6007/IJARPED/v12-i4/19575
Martin, K., & Freeman, R. E. (2003). Some Problems with Employee Monitoring. Journal of Business Ethics, 43(4), 353–361. https //doi.org/10.1023/A 1023014112461.
Mateescu, A., & Nguyen, A. (2019). "Explainer." Algorithmic management in the workplace, Data & Society, 6, 1–15. https://datasociety.net/wpcontent/uploads/2019/02/ DS_Algorithmic_ Management_ Explainer.pdf.
Perry-Hazan, L., & Birnhack, M. (2019). Caught on camera: Teachers' surveillance in schools. Teaching and Teacher Education, 78, 193-204.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.11.021
Rana, M. S., & Riaz, A. (2023). Securitization of the Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 58(7), 1274–1290.
https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096221082265
Ravid, D. M., Tomczak, D. L., White, J. C., & Behrend, T. S. (2020). EPM 20/20: A review, framework, and research agenda for electronic performance monitoring. Journal of Management, 46(1), 100-126. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206319869435
Samaranayake, V., & Gamage, C. (2012). A MANAGERIAL INCENTIVE FOR WORKPLACE ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE. IIADIS International Journal on Computer Science and Information Systems, 7(2), 87-100.
Sewell, G., Barker, J. R., & Nyberg, D. (2012). Working under intensive surveillance: When does 'measuring everything that moves' become intolerable? Human Relations, 65(2), 189-215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726711428958
Sohel, A. R. (2022). Sense of insecurity ups surveillance tools sales. The Business Post. https://businesspostbd.com/front/sense-of-insecurity-ups-surveillance-tools-sales-2022-01-04
Stanton, J. M. (2000). Reactions to employee performance monitoring: Framework, review, and research directions. Human Performance, 13(1), 85–113. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327043HUP1301_4
Stanton, J. M., & Weiss, E. M. (2000). Electronic monitoring in their own words is an exploratory study of employees' experiences with new types of surveillance. Computers in Human Behavior, 16(4), 423–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0747-5632(00)00018-2
Swartz M. (2021). Five Trends in Monitoring And Tracking Employees. https://www.monster.ca/career-advice/article/trends-in-monitoring-and-tracking-employees
Syreyshchikova, N. V., Pimenov, D. Y., Mikolajczyk, T., & Moldovan, L. (2020). Development of a risk management technique in strategic planning of universities. Case study of a Polytechnical Institute. Procedia Manufacturing, 46, 256-262.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.promfg.2020.03.038
Tabak, F., & Smith, W. P. (2005). Privacy and electronic monitoring in the workplace: A model of managerial cognition and relational trust development. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 17(3), 173–189. https//doi.org/10.1007/s10672-005-6940-z
Tenney, E. R., Poole, J. M., & Diener, E. (2016). Does positivity enhance work performance? Why, when, and what we don't know. Research in Organizational Behavior, 36, 27–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2016.11.002
UGC. (2020). 46th Annual Report 2019 (Executive Summary). University Grants Commission of Bangladesh.
Weymouth, S. (2023). Bangladesh's Draft Data Protection Act. Atlantic Council South Asia Center. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bangladeshs-Draft-Data-Protection-Act-IB-v3.pdf
Worldometer. (n.d.). Bangladesh Population. Retrieved November 10, 2023 from https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/bangladesh-population
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case Study Research Design and Methods. (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California Sage Publications, Inc.
Zuboff, S. (1988). In the age of the smart machine. The future of work and power. New York: Basic Books.